Posts tagged with inspiration
Jason Schwartzman: “I gave the script [of Rushmore] to my mom and I said ‘Mom, I’ve never auditioned. Can you give me any pointers? Can you help me memorize lines?’ and she read the script and she said ‘I’ll be right back’ and she went out and rented three films, The Graduate, Dog Day Afternoon, and Harold and Maude. And I watched them all for the first time. And it was in that moment where I felt, watching the films, this warm, insane feeling inside of my body which was a feeling that up until then music had given me. And it was in that moment where I said ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever get this part. I don’t know if my band will ever make it. But I’ve got to try to live my life somehow staying as close to this weird feeling as possible.’”
BODIES IN URBAN SPACES
(via Wall Street Journal. Thanks to pithybanter for the submission.)
An awesome photo series for an awesome summer’s day. Be gone, winter!
(via megpickard)
What everybody else is doing is irrelevant - 37 Signals
Absolutely true. Do what you need to do and don’t stop doing it because of what someone else is doing if it is right for you.
thoughts on webstock
the third webstock has come and gone, leaving me feeling bereft (as the passing of all great things do).
when we left auckland wednesday night i felt exhausted, a frazzled string of christmas lights. i don’t think i was the only one. over the 2 days of the conference it was as if each section of cord and each bulb slowly untangled itself and re-lit. by friday night i was tired but energised.
webstock is often a time of excitement just for the fact that personal or potential heroes attend. i met derek powazek and gave him a copy of my art zine, skeleton. for long time readers (or anyone who isn’t blind) i’ve often quoted derek and have always held his words on personal websites to be a manifesto of sorts. the unfortunate thing is that often in these situations one can’t think of much more to impart than gratitude for what the person does. sometimes it just doesn’t seem enough.
webstock is many things to many people but it is more than just a web conference. darren compares it to TED; it is more about concepts, creativity and inspiration than just demonstrations of technique by top players (though there is a bit of that in there too for those who are looking for that).
the presentations were fantastic and artfully segued between topics & the creation of themes; many carefully balanced between teaching and dangling questions, opening up ideas and pushing the audience to make their own choices. for many presenters i typed as fast as i possibly could; for others there was the chance to reflect and absorb their message.
i feel like this year i left with a sense of being able to now choose my own adventure more than ever before. many speakers touched on what’s happening in the world right now - many things won’t last & won’t hold but i think more than destruction it has to push us to be more, do more & make more. complacence just isn’t workable. criticism has to be a spark, not a dead end. both ze frank’s session and tash hall’s closing words brought me to tears - there is so much that happens online that can almost be discounted or overlooked but in so many ways it’s a big, beautiful, chaotic cathedral.
we have the capability to make positive change and now more than ever, the internet has to help save the world.
Fifty People, One Question (via Vimeo)
This video makes me want to make videos. Inspiring and amazing!
Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory.(Ref: need for epiphany.)
-Tennessee Williams, 1955
Steven Poole: Fugitive pieces
“I think that at least potentially (and demonstrably for many authors), the prospect of the writing appearing in book form makes a writer try her very best, because of this confluence of timescale, technology and social context. The very permanence of the physical book format has for centuries pushed writers to raise their game. The prospect today of blogging elbowing out other forms of writing is comparable to the prospect of an 18th century known to us only through its pamphlets, and none of the great long-form satires and novels. That would still keep a few houndstooth-jacketed academics in business, but would anyone else really care?”
An interesting read comparing the perceived and actual value and quality of internet writing vs. books.
A lot of it is context I think. If the first great novel of the 21st century were published online serially right now, it would simply never be recognised as such. The critical mass of people capable of making such a distinction would not read it. Not yet anyway.
(If this is the bit where you get all huffy about elitism, etc, please just take a look at the Sunday Time bestsellers list and recognise that there are “elite” standards of literature and we really, really need them. God I hate the Internet sometimes, why won’t you just shut up.)
Anyway, all I’m saying is nobody who matters must be reading great writing on the internet or else i would be getting some telephones calls, right?
